Beautiful People Don't Lie
by SitBoy813
Summary: Sweeney Todd will never love again. Ever. Not after Lucy. Lucy is his only love. Unless a damsel in distress happens to walk through his door, he will not fall in love. NO SWEENEYXLOVETT. Title subject to change.
1. Chapter 1

_We all deserve to die…_

_And I'll never see Johanna_

_No I'll never hold my girl to—_

The bell of the shop door rang.

"Pardon my intrusions, sir and madam, but I need a place to hide! Quickly or he'll find me! Please!"

The annoyed Sweeney Todd stopped in his tracks. The corner of his mouth twitched. [You know, that Johnny Depp twitch. Sweeney Todd hated being interrupted. And this was no more than a child suspending him. She sounded barely older than fifteen. Fourteen, maybe.

Sweeney turned around, expecting to see a poor, filthy girl from the streets that the world had no care for, but that was now what he saw.

Instead he saw a girl who looked in her late twenties. Her red brown-ash hair was pin-straight, and bordered her face before falling to her shoulders. She wore a dress that showed she was far from poor. Emerald green and black velvet. Flowing at the bottom, but following every curve of her body from the waist up. It was low cut and revealing, much like Ms. Lovett's dress, and revealed more of her perfect, pale, fair skin. But Sweeney Todd was more focused on her eyes. And not just the fact that her eyes were the most entrancing shade of green, and matched wonderfully with her deep red hair, but the fact that they were wet caused Sweeney Todd to lose his speech. Salty tears were streaming down her face which was so perfect and pale, but her eyes looked cold and lost.

"Sir please, may I stay here, for just a few moments? Please, he must not find me here!" the woman cried.

Sweeney was broken from his gaze towards the beautiful woman, though he didn't know what to say. He was absolutely speechless for the first time in his life. He opened his mouth to say something, anything. But he couldn't. He looked at Ms. Lovett.

"Mr. T, this is your shop. Are you going to answer the girl over 'ere or not?"

Sweeney Todd looked at the floor. Say _something_. Say _anything_ to her. Say something to-…to-…_I don't know her name._ _What is her name?_

Aha, something to say!

"What is your name, young lady?"

"My name is Abagail, sir. Please he's coming," she whispered.

Sweeney was just about to ask just who exactly was coming, but at that moment, he heard foot steps. The girl stood stock still, and drew a panicked look on her face. She just about dropped to her knees before Sweeney grabbed her green lace-covered arm and dragged her hurriedly away from the door. He walked briskly to the other side of the room, grabbed a golden doorknob, and pushed her inside the storage closet.

"Mr. T, what're you doing? You don't know nothing about that girl, how d'you know she's not spying and lying to us?" Ms. Lovett asked as the footsteps drew nearer and Sweeney went to clean of his barber chair.

"Beautiful people don't lie."


	2. Chapter 2

So, this is chapter 2, and I'm sorry it took me a while to get this one posted, but fanfiction was being stupid and annoying and wouldn't let me upload any stories. But its working now.

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Ms. Lovett thought that an odd comment. _Beautiful people don't lie._ Strange for Mr. T to say somthin' mysterious like that without explainin' himself.

The bell on the door rang, and in walked a man in a rather over-the-top red and black suit. It had shiny silver lace woven through. It almost gleamed like the razor Mr. Todd was gripping tightly in his hand. _What could this man want with Abagail?_

"Good afternoon, sir, madam." He said, bowing to Ms. Lovett.

"Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you today. I am Sweeney Todd. What can I do for you? Light trim? How about a shave?" Sweeney asked with a grin.

"No thank you sir. You see, I am here looking for my woman."

Sweeney Todd cringed.

"_**Your**_ women, sir?" he asked. He watched in disgust as the man looked suspiciously around his practically empty parlor, as though Abagail was going to appear any moment.

"Yes, _my_ woman. She ran down the street away from me when we were in the market, and I checked all the housings on the street. Yours is the last one."

Sweeney easily dodged the subject.

"Why was she running away from you? You didn't scare her off, did you?" Sweeney asked, daring a smirk. A nerve somewhere behind the man's left temple twitched.

"Well, you see, it's a long story, and I should really be looking for my Abagail." The man said.

"But listen to this, my good man…er…I'm sorry…I didn't catch your name…" Sweeney said, secretly grinning to himself. For he was slowly evolving a plan that would easily gain him access to Abagail's world.

"Ah, my name is Richard Paysley."

"Well then, Mr. Paysley, your…Abagail ran away from you, yes? Do you think it was because you are not….appealing to her? Well, how about I give you the cleanest, closest shave, and the cologne that I shall give you will have your beautiful Abagail come running back to you. Women like their men clean shaven. And while you get your shave, you can tell me all about this young Abagail of yours running away."

Mr. Paysley looked like he was contemplating the problem for a moment. He brought his fingertips up to his chin and tapped. Sweeney had him wrapped around his finger.

_I must say, this is way too much effort to waste on that Abagail, I don't even know her. Why should I care about her? She's nothing to me._

Little did Sweeney Todd know, the only reason he cared for the girl is because she reminded him of Lucy. He remembered Lucy crying out to him when he was taken away. Ms. Lovett had told him that Lucy had tried to run away several times, looking for Benjamin Barker. Abagail ran away from this man, and she probably had similar reasons.

This man had tried to hurt Abagail, and Sweeney Todd knew it.

_So, I suppose it's not an __**entire**__ waste of my time if I'm saving this woman from harm. I guess I have a soft spot for victims of abuse. And a burning hatred for the abusers._

Mr. Paysley seemed to have finally decided on whether or not to clean himself up.

"Alright then. Make it quick. Soon after I'm done I want to get back to looking for Abagail."

Excellent. Sweeney had just predicted and controlled this every man's move. Just the way he liked it. Richard was going to tell him all about Abagail and forget about looking for her in the parlor.

"Alright then, how about a spot of gin as well?"

"Why not, eh?" Richard said, seeming very optimistic.

"Ms. Lovett if you please, Bring this man a glass of gin."

Mr. Paysley had barely noticed Ms. Lovett hiding in the corner. She was in awe watching Sweeney wind his way into this man's mind. But Ms. Lovett was not just amazed at _how_ he'd done it, he was amazed at _who_he'd done it to. For Ms. Lovett knew why Abagail had come running. She knew who Richard Paysley was.

Sweeney Todd, being relatively new to the town, had _no clue_ who he was dealing with. And Ms. Lovett seemed it to work for Mr. T's benefit.

"Ms. Lovett? A spot of gin for the man?"

She had been so immersed in her thoughts that she forgot to answer the man.

"Oh, right, yes, of course!" She said. Ms. Lovett looked at Sweeney as Mr. Paysley was sitting down in the barber chair, and behind his back she mouthed to Sweeney, "I can't believe you just did that."

Sweeney could only smirk as Mr. Paysley got situated in his chair. Ms. Lovett smiled, and Sweeney winked at her before she turned and went down to get the gin from the bakery.

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Heyy, hope you all loved it and the new ones will be out soon! Promise! Review puh-leez. :


	3. Chapter 3

ALRIGHT. SOME DAMAGE CONTROL, DO YOU THINK?

Fanfiction is being RETARDED. For some reason I can't go back and edit stories once I've posted them, therefore, I haven't been able to tell you THIS:

I HAVE TWO ACCOUNTS. Sitboy813 and DanaXXFerSure are both MINE. No one stole the story, got it? Stop reporting me, mkay? Good.

Now that we've got that cleared up, lets go on to chapter 3, shall we?

"That Ms. Lovett, is she your woman? Paysley said as he was lying in the chair waiting for Sweeney to prepare him for a shave.

Sweeney cringed.

"No, she is merely the shopkeeper downstairs. I am only friends with her." he said in disgust. It's not that he didn't like Ms. Lovett, no she was the best thing to happen to him in fifteen years…He just hadn't thought of her…_that way_.

"Shame. She is pretty. I would take her if I were you."

And just to make Paysley feel bad, Sweeney said, "Yes, well, not if your wife had died and your child gone missing."

"I beg your pardon. I'm sorry for your losses, Mr. Todd. That is a true shame."

_Shame._ That's all this man thinks about. Shame and women. But he treats women as property. That is the _real_ shame here.

"It's fine. Now, let's talk about your fine Abagail, hmm? What happened with her?"

Sweeney smiled. He loved guilt tripping people. It had to be the one thing in the world that was easy and fun to do.

"Right, of course. Abagail. You see, I worked as the head butler in the house for her father. Her mother died when she was just two," he paused as Sweeney Todd put cream on his cheeks, neck, and chin, "so her father left it to me to take care of her. This gave her father great trust in me."

"She didn't really have a mother figure. But Mr. Todd, believe me when I say, Abagail is the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. Her eyes, I swear to you, one look into them and you will be lost." Paysley continued as Sweeney Todd began to shave the right side of his face. He promised himself, no matter what he said about Abagail, Sweeney would not change the plan he had recently formulated in his head. Even if the man was a dirty, despicable man-whore, he would leave this place _alive_. If Sweeney killed him now, he would kill his chance with Abagail, too.

And Sweeney's plan was quite intricate. He actually did have a sweet smelling cologne for him. He was just going to learn a bit about Abagail, just to see what she was all about…as Ms. Lovett said, she could be spying on them…but it didn't seem so…

It didn't matter. All Sweeney had to keep under control was Paysley. He had to stay alive. Sweeney was going to stick to his word for once. He was going to give this man a shave, his cologne, and then he'd be out the door. For about an hour, Sweeney Todd would be beautiful. Because beautiful people don't lie…right?

"Ow! Goodness!" Paysley cried. Sweeney scrambled to get a rag from his table in the corner.

"Terribly sorry," said Sweeney. "I want you to know you're the first customer I've ever nicked with my blades."

"Thank you, I take it as an honor," said an irritated Paysley.

"Honestly, I was distracted. I was thinking of Lucy." Sweeney said, without thinking.

"Lucy? Who's Lucy?" Paysley asked. This man was surely nosy.

"Lucy…Lucy was my wife."

"Oh, Lucy is Abagail's mother's name. How interesting."

Sweeney blinked. It couldn't be. Lucy was dead. And the years were off. And his daughter's name was Johanna. Lucy is dead. It was a different Lucy.

"How long ago did she…erm…pass on?"

Sweeney didn't know. Sweeney had been gone the entire time. It must have been after Johanna was born, obviously. But Sweeney had no idea.

"I'm not sure. I was in the navy while she was with my daughter. We had no other family and when my wife passed…My daughter ran. I came back to no one."

"Oh, dear, I'm terribly sorry. Lets talk about something else shall we? This is your personal life, I don't need to be nosing around in it."

"Thank you, sir. Continue on about your Abagail." Sweeney said. He didn't know what to think about how he had just lied. That was a horrible, horrible lie. The key to a good lie is to get the point across, with one detail. Sweeney didn't even know what the point of that lie was. But it didn't matter. He wasn't beautiful. He had lied.

"Of course.Where were we?" As Paysley paused to think, Sweeney continued shaving. "Oh, right. Abagail's mother. She was Lucy, and her father was Benjamin."

Sweeney froze. Such an odd coincidence. There was no possible way that it was his daughter, his wife, or even him. None at all.

"Its funny, people would always say its like that barber, Benjamin Barker who got sent away by that Judge Turpin. His wife's name was Lucy. They called it a funny coincidence."

Sweeney sneered with his back to Paysley. He could not stand this man's arrogance. He might as well just kill him now.

"Yes…a very funny coincidence, indeed."

"Right, well, Abagail, she is twenty seven. Her mother was gone at two, but the biggest dilemma of her life is her father. He went missing a few days ago. The most curious thing. The officers and investigators we've seen say there's nothing we can do, the man vanished off the face of the Earth. They say it's been too long. Missing persons aren't usually found alive after 48 hours."

Somehow, by some twist of fate, Sweeney knew this story of Abagail's was connected to his life. Someway, somehow, Sweeney had some part he was supposed to play in Abagail's life. He just had no clue what it was yet.

"How did Abagail react to her father's death?" Sweeney asked, concerned.

"Well, you see," he paused as Sweeney shaved just under his nose, "this is the difficult part."

Sweeney smiled his devious smile. He knew this was going to be the reason why Abagail was running from him. It was going to be the reason Abagail was hiding from him in Sweeney's closet.

"Well, I was very close to Abagail's father…and I was very close with Abagail…So close that Benjamin left me to Abagail in his will."

Now, we're getting personal. Sweeney almost slit his throat right then and there.

"Don't you usually leave **property** in wills?"

"Yes, well, you know us men, it doesn't really matter one way or another."

Sweeney pulled his razor away and wiped it clean on the rag around Paysley's neck. He looked down at Paysley in disgust. _So he just wanted Abagail for himself. Dispicable._

"So, that was when she ran away in the market…"

"Right, when I told her about the will and her father's wishes…she ran. I don't think she expected it."

"That's interesting…It dawned on me that Abagail is twenty seven and unmarried? That's unusual. Was her father…waiting?"

"No, he was just very protective. He wanted the man who was right forhis daughter."

_So he chose a butler_?

"I see. Well, sir. You are finished. Closest shave I ever gave." Sweeney said._ And yet, perhaps it wasn't close enough…_

"I mist say, very close, very nice. Thank you." Paysley said, rubbing his chin and standing up out of the barber chair.

"Here is your cologne, sir. Small sample. If you should like it, you know where to come and get it." Sweeney said, pulling a small blue corked bottle out of his pocket and handing it to Mr. Paysley.

"Thank you, sir." Paysley replied, smiling. He uncorked it, and put the bottle to his nose.

"Mm, smells entrancing." He said as he recapped the bottle.

Sweeney was about to ask him how Abagail's mother had died, for it had been bugging him at the back of his mind, when at that very moment, Ms. Lovett walked in the room with two glasses of gin, and looking slightly grim.

"Here y'are, Mr. Todd."

"Ah, thank you Ms. Lovett." Sweeney took both glasses from her and handed one to Paysley.

"Took you awful long, didn't it?" Paysley said, grinning. _He sure treats women like dirt. Just like any other man I've met._

"Sorry, had to find another bottle." Ms. Lovett smiled.

"Ah, well, very good, thank you. I think I will be on my way looking for Abagail. Thank you for your hospitality. Here is your pay," Paysley said, handing Sweeney a few silver coins.

"Thank you," Sweeney said, "Ms. Lovett, would you kindly show the man out? I'm going to clean up here."

"Certainly, Mr. T. Maybe he'd like a meatpie for the road, hmm? Oh, and Mr. T.," Ms. Lovett said, turning around suddenly, "I'd like to speak with you in a few minutes. Alone." She said grimly. Sweeney nodded in confusion. _What could she be on about?_

When Ms. Lovett had gone out the door with Paysley and down the steps, Sweeney vowed that that was not the last time he would be seeing that man. But the thought was pushed out of his mind quick enough.

"Abagail," Sweeney said, seemingly talking to no one, "I know you heard the whole thing. You can come out now. He's gone."

SO. That was 3. Review Puhlease. : Loveeee Dana :


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